Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases Outcome
Anemia is extremely common in hospitalized patients who are old and often with multiple diseases. We evaluated 435 consecutive patients admitted in the internal medicine department of a hub hospital and 191 (43.9%) of them were anemic. Demographic, historic and clinical data, laboratory tests, durat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/4/950 |
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| author | Maria Luigia Randi Irene Bertozzi Claudia Santarossa Elisabetta Cosi Fabrizio Lucente Giulia Bogoni Giacomo Biagetti Fabrizio Fabris |
| author_facet | Maria Luigia Randi Irene Bertozzi Claudia Santarossa Elisabetta Cosi Fabrizio Lucente Giulia Bogoni Giacomo Biagetti Fabrizio Fabris |
| author_sort | Maria Luigia Randi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Anemia is extremely common in hospitalized patients who are old and often with multiple diseases. We evaluated 435 consecutive patients admitted in the internal medicine department of a hub hospital and 191 (43.9%) of them were anemic. Demographic, historic and clinical data, laboratory tests, duration of hospitalization, re-admission at 30 days and death were recorded. Patients were stratified by age (<65, 65–80, >80 years), anemia severity, and etiology of anemia. The causes of anemia were: iron deficiency in 28 patients, vitamin B<sub>12</sub> and folic acid deficiencies in 6, chronic inflammatory diseases in 80, chronic kidney disease in 15, and multifactorial in 62. The severity of the clinical picture at admission was significantly worse (<i>p</i> < 0.001), length of hospitalization was longer (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and inversely correlated to the Hb concentration, re-admissions and deaths were more frequent (<i>p</i> 0.017) in anemic compared to non-anemic patients. A specific treatment for anemia was used in 99 patients (36.6%) (transfusions, erythropoietin, iron, vitamin B<sub>12</sub> and/or folic acid). Anemia (and/or its treatment) was red in the discharge letter only 54 patients. Even if anemia is common, in internal medicine departments scarce attention is paid to it, as it is generally considered a “minor” problem, particularly in older patients often affected by multiple pathologies. Our data indicate the need of renewed medical attention to anemia, as it may positively affect the outcome of several concurrent medical conditions and the multidimensional loss of function in older hospitalized patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:47:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-19a1c6c1d0b547708969f25dbe310318 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:47:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-19a1c6c1d0b547708969f25dbe3103182023-11-19T20:08:33ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832020-03-019495010.3390/jcm9040950Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases OutcomeMaria Luigia Randi0Irene Bertozzi1Claudia Santarossa2Elisabetta Cosi3Fabrizio Lucente4Giulia Bogoni5Giacomo Biagetti6Fabrizio Fabris7First Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyFirst Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyFirst Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyFirst Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyFirst Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyFirst Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyFirst Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyFirst Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine—DIMED, University of Padua, via Giustiniani 2, 35123 Padova, ItalyAnemia is extremely common in hospitalized patients who are old and often with multiple diseases. We evaluated 435 consecutive patients admitted in the internal medicine department of a hub hospital and 191 (43.9%) of them were anemic. Demographic, historic and clinical data, laboratory tests, duration of hospitalization, re-admission at 30 days and death were recorded. Patients were stratified by age (<65, 65–80, >80 years), anemia severity, and etiology of anemia. The causes of anemia were: iron deficiency in 28 patients, vitamin B<sub>12</sub> and folic acid deficiencies in 6, chronic inflammatory diseases in 80, chronic kidney disease in 15, and multifactorial in 62. The severity of the clinical picture at admission was significantly worse (<i>p</i> < 0.001), length of hospitalization was longer (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and inversely correlated to the Hb concentration, re-admissions and deaths were more frequent (<i>p</i> 0.017) in anemic compared to non-anemic patients. A specific treatment for anemia was used in 99 patients (36.6%) (transfusions, erythropoietin, iron, vitamin B<sub>12</sub> and/or folic acid). Anemia (and/or its treatment) was red in the discharge letter only 54 patients. Even if anemia is common, in internal medicine departments scarce attention is paid to it, as it is generally considered a “minor” problem, particularly in older patients often affected by multiple pathologies. Our data indicate the need of renewed medical attention to anemia, as it may positively affect the outcome of several concurrent medical conditions and the multidimensional loss of function in older hospitalized patients.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/4/950anemiahospitalized patientsoutcome of hospitalization |
| spellingShingle | Maria Luigia Randi Irene Bertozzi Claudia Santarossa Elisabetta Cosi Fabrizio Lucente Giulia Bogoni Giacomo Biagetti Fabrizio Fabris Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases Outcome Journal of Clinical Medicine anemia hospitalized patients outcome of hospitalization |
| title | Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases Outcome |
| title_full | Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases Outcome |
| title_fullStr | Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases Outcome |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases Outcome |
| title_short | Prevalence and Causes of Anemia in Hospitalized Patients: Impact on Diseases Outcome |
| title_sort | prevalence and causes of anemia in hospitalized patients impact on diseases outcome |
| topic | anemia hospitalized patients outcome of hospitalization |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/4/950 |
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